Cleaning implement



1965 J. vALus 3,199,139

CLEANING IMPLEMENT Filed Sept. 25, 1963 INVENTORJ JUSEP/V VAAL/S A1: Arr-02 127 United States Patent 3,199,139 CLEANING Joseph Vallis, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Vaiden Company, Toronto, ()ntario, (Ianada Filed Sept. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 310,543 4 illaims. (Cl. -532) The present invention relates to cleaning implements in general, and more particularly to an improved brush like scrubbing device which is especially suited for cleaning of tiles, sinks, bath tubs, toilet bowls, pots, pans and similar objects which must be cleaned by scrubbing in the presence of soap or another water-soluble detergent,

In cleansing of pots, pans, sinks and similar bodies, it is customary to pour a pulverulent or flaky detergent onto the surface to be cleaned, to add some water, and to thereupon scrub the surface with a brush, with steel wool or a similar scrubbing implement in order to remove grease, food rests, dust and other contaminants. A serious drawback of such methods is that the bristles of a brush will merely push the detergent in front of them so that substantial quantities of detergent are wasted and that proper cleaning of a given surface requires considerable time and effort.

Accordingly, it is an important object of my invention to provide a cleaning implement which is constructed and assembled in such a way that it is capable of properly cleaning pots, pans and similar objects with greatly reduced quantities of detergent and within very short periods of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cleaning implement of the just outlined characteristics which carries its own supply of detergent and which may be operated in such a Way that it discharges requisite quantities of detergent for a given cleaning operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brush which may be used for scrubbing of sinks, pots, pans or the like with considerable savings in detergent, which may be furnished with readily exchangeable component parts so that it need not be discarded when certain of its parts which undergo substantial wear in actual use require replacement, and which may be put to use in such a way that the hands need not come into contact with the detergent.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a combination scrubbing brush and detergent distributor which may be manufactured at low cost of readily available materials, which can be put to a large number of uses, which may be utilized in connection with all types of liquid or liquid-soluble detergents, and which can withstand extensive wear without affecting its cleaning action.

A concomitant object of the instant invention is to provide a cleaning implement which is self-cleaning when put to actual use, which may be furnished in many sizes and eye-pleasing shapes, which may be utilized by human beings as an accessory in washing or bathing, which may be utilized for bathing, disinfecting and/or cleaning of animals, and which can be entrusted to children without any danger that it would hurt a child when used as a toy.

With the above objects in view, one feature of my invention resides in the provision of an implement which is especially suited for cleaning of pots, pans, tiles, sinks, bath tubs, toilet bowls and similar objects which must be scrubbed in the presence of soap or another sudsy detergent. The cleaning implement comprises a discshaped back support which may be a molded article made of suitable synthetic plastic material, a pad of foam rubber or another elastically deformable liquid-absorbing porous material which is secured to and which extends ddhdddh Patented Aug. 10, 965

ice

from one side of the back support, and an annular brush member having a central opening and including an annular portion with a plurality of flexible bristles secured to and extending from the latter so as to at least partially surround the pad. The back support may constitute the handle of the cleaning implement or, alternatively, I may provide an elongated handle secured to the back support. Further, I provide means for detachably securing the brush member to the support member so that together they form a compartment adapted to receive a detergent. A portion of the pad will be located within the compartment; another portion outwardly thereof.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved cleaning implement itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view or" a cleaning implement which embodies the preferred form of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the cleaning implement with a portion of the handle broken away;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section as seen in the direction of arrows from the line IlI-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the front section of a back support which constitutes a component part of the cleaning implement, the view of FIG. 4 being taken in the direction of arrows from the line IVIV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a transverse section through a modified cleaning implement wherein the pad is permanently bonded to the front side of the back support; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a third cleaning implement wherein the bristles do not form a complete annulus about the pad, a portion of the handle being broken away.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1, there is shown a cleaning implement which includes a circular back support 10 including a diskshaped rear section 11 and a disk-shaped front section 12, an elongated handle 13 whose right-hand end portion is integral with the rear section 11 and which extends from the upper side of the back support, a scraper 14 which is also integral with the rear section 11 and which extends laterally of the back support so that its sharp edge 15 may remove food rests from the surfaces of pans or the like, a plurality of annularly arranged bristles 16 which are integral with the front section 12 and which extend beyond the underside of the back support 10, and an elastically deformable liquid-absorbing porous pad 17 (see H63. 2 and 3) whose front portion 18 is of circular shape and extends beyond the underside of the back support so that it is completely surrounded by several rows of annularly arranged bristles 16. That end portion of the handle 13 which is distant from the back support it) assumes the form of a suspending device or hook 19 and serves to facilitate suspension of the implement in a closet or on a wall.

The entire implement consists of suitable synthetic plastic material and the material of the rear section ll is more rigid than the material of the front section 12. This section 12 preferably consists of tough elastically deformable material so that it may be attached to or detached from the rear section 11. The connecting means which couples the sections l1, 12 to each other includes a peripheral rib 26 on the section It and a complementary annular groove 21 in the marginal portion of the section 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the section 12 comprises a concavo-convex plate-like carrier 22 which is integral with the bristles l6 and which is formed with a centrally located opening 23 bounded by a series of radially inwardly extending tooth-like projections 24. These projections serve to prevent unintentional withdrawal of t. e pad 17 from back support 14 This pad includes a rear portion 25 which is accommodated in a chamber 25. defined by the sections 11, 12. and its front portion 155 extends through the opening 23 so that it is compressed by the projections 24 and is thereby held in the position of FIG. 3. The front surface 27 of the portion 18 is of convex shape and is adjacent to the common plane of the bristle tips 28. If desired, the front surface 27 may extend slightly beyond the tips 28 but this is not absolutely necessary since the bristles are flexible so that the pad portion 18 will automatically reach the'surface to be cleaned when the implement is in actual use. The rear side of the carrier 22 is formed with stiffening ribs 29.

When a housewife desires to clean a pot, a pan, a sink, a toilet bowl, a tile or a bath tub, the pad 17 is wetted and is thereupon dipped into a detergent so that a requisite quantity of detergent adheres to its portion 18. T he implement is then moved back and forth along the surface to be cleaned whereby the pad automatically supplies detergent at a rate which depends on the quantity of detergent that was taken up by the portionl on the nature of detergent, on the amount of liquid that was absorbed by the pad, and on the pressure which the user applies on the handle in order to bend the bristles and to move the pad portion 18 into contact with the surface to be cleaned.

If desired, the front section 12 may be separated from the rear section 11 and the user thereupon pours some detergent into the chamber 26 so that the detergent will be dissolved by Water seeping through the pad 17 and that the suds will be squeezed onto the surface to be cleaned when the implement is in use.

An important advantage of'my implement is that the pad portion 18 which serves as a source of detergent is completely or nearly completely surrounded by the bristles so that the bristles will be compelled to rub the de tergent along the surface of a pot or pan irrespective of the direction in which the user moves the back support. In other words, all of the detergent is caused to reach and is rubbed against the surface to be cleaned because the suds discharged by the pad portion 13 must pass between several rows of annularly arranged bristles prior to reaching the outline of the implement. Thus, the detergent discharged by the pad 17 cannot be merely pushed in front of the bristles but must actually pass therebetween. Such action insures that all of the detergent is dissolved and that minimal quantities of detergent will produce large quantities of suds or foam to insure that the cleaning operation will be completed within a short period of time. If necessary, the user applies the cutting edge 15 of the scraper 14 in order to remove strongly adhering food rests or other impurities which are not readily removable by the bristles.

The implement of FTGS. l to 4 may be furnished with spare pads and/or with one or more spare front sections 12. All that the user has to do is to detach the front section from the rib 2t whereupon the rear section 11 may be coupled to a new front section. The pad 17 may,

be withdrawn without necessitating detachment of the frontsection 12, but it will be easier to reinsert the pad or to insert a new pad once the front section is detached.

When the implement is in actual use, the bristles 16 are cleaned in a fully automatic way by contact with the suds issuing from the pad 17. In order to clean the pad, the user squeezes the portion 18 in clean water whereby the remaining detergent is expelled to cleanse the pad and the bristles before the implement is put to storage.

If the front pad portion 18 is very dirty or worn away, the position of the pad may be reversed so that the portion extends through and beyondthe opening 23 and that the portion 18 remains concealed in the chamber 26.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second cleaning implement including a one-piece back support 40 which serves as a handle and whose underside is integral with several rows of annularly arranged bristles 41. The pad 42 is bonded (at 4 3) to the underside of the back support so that it is com pletely surrounded by the bristles 41. Any suitable adhesive which can form a strong bond between the material of the back support and the material of the pad may be utilized to secure the pad in position so that the pad is surrounded by the bristles.

FIG. 6 illustrates a third cleaning implement which comprises a two piece back support 5d including a front section 51, a rear section 52which is detachable fromthe front section 51, a handle 53 which is integral with the rear section 52, and a pad 54 which is almost entirely surrounded by the bristles 55 extending from the underside of the front section 51. It will be seen that the bristles are disposed in front and in the rear of the pad 54, as seen in thedirection in which the back support 56) is normally moved by the handle $3, so that any detergent discharged by the pad must pass through a group of bristles before it reaches the outlines 'of the implement. If desired, the sections 51, 52 may be made of difierentiy colored material to enhance the appearance of the implement, and it is equally possible to use a pad which forms a fancy design in order to increase the sales appeal of the implement. As shown in FIG. 6, the back support 59 need not be circular but may assume a polygonal or other suitable shape.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without. omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential charac teristics of the genericand specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: i

1. A cleaning implement comprising, in combination, a disc-shaped support member having an annular rim; a handle secured to said disc-shaped support member; an annular brush member having a central opening and including an annular portion having a peripheral edge of substantially the same configuration as said annular rim of said disc-shaped support member and a plurality of bristles carried by the outer face of said annular portion integral therewith and extending therearound; means for detachably ecuring said annular brush member along said peripheral edge of said annular portion to said annular rim of said disc-shaped support member so that said discshaped support member together with said annular brush member form a compartment; and a pad of elastically deformable liquid-absorbing porous material having a first portion located within said compartment and projecting through said central opening of said annular portion of said annular brush member outwardly and having a second portion located outwardly of said opening and within the space surrounded by said bristles of said annular brush member, said first portion and said second portion of said pad having each a cross-sectional area greater than the cross-sectional area of said opening so as to be detachably held therein, said annular brush member together with said pad being thus adapted to be attached to and detached from saiddisc-shaped support member as a single unit.

2. A cleaning implement comprising, in combination,

peripheral edge of said annular portion to said annular rim of said disc-shaped support member so that said discshaped support member together With said annular brush member form a compartment; and a pad of elastically deformable liquid-absorbing porous material having a first portion located within said compartment and projecting through said central opening of said annular portion of said annular brush member outwardly and having a secend portion located outwardly of said opening and within the space surrounded by said bristles or said annular brush member with the outer face of said pad being located substantially in the plane of the outer ends of said bristles, said first portion and said second portion of said pad having each a cross-sectional area greater than the crosssectional area of said opening so as to be detachably held therein, said annular brush member together with said pad being thus adapted to be attached to and detached from said disc-shaped support member as a single unit.

3. A cleaning implement comprising, in combination, a disc-shaped support member having an annular rim; a handle secured to said disc-shaped support member; an annular brush member having a central opening and including an annular portion having a peripheral edge of substantially the same configuration as said annular rim of said disc-shaped support member and a plurality of bristles carried by the outer face of said annular portion integral therewith and extending therearound; means for detachably securing said annular brush member along said peripheral edge of said annular portion to said annular rim of said disc-shaped support member so that said discshaped support member together with said annular brush member form a compartment, said means including an outwardly open peripheral groove formed in said annular rim of said disc-shaped support, and an inwardly extending circumferential projection integral with said peripheral edge of said annular portion of said annular brush memher and adapted to be inserted into said groove of said annular rim of said disc for frictional engagement therein; and a pad of elastically deformable liquid-absorbing porous material having a first portion located Within said compartment and projecting through said central opening of said annular portion of said annular brush member outwardly and having a second portion located outwardly of said opening and Within the space surrounded by said bristles of said annular brush member with the outer face of said pad being located substantially in the plane of the outer ends of said bristles, said first portion and said second portion of said pad having each a cross-sectional area greater than the cross-sectional area of said opening so as to be detachably held therein, said anular brush member together with said pad being thus adapted to be attached to and detached from said disc-shaped support member as a single unit.

4. A cleaning implement comprising, in combination,

Cir

a disc-shaped support member having an annular rim; a handle secured to said disc-shaped support member; an annular brush member having a central opening and including an annular portion having a peripheral edge of substantially the same configuration as said annular rim of said disc-shaped support member and a plurality of bristles carried by the outer face of said annular portion integral therewith and extending therearound; means for detachably ecuring said annular brush member along said peripheral edge of said annular portion to said annular rim of said disc-shaped support member so that said discshaped support member together with said annular brush member form a compartment, said means including an outwardly open peripheral groove formed in said annular rim of said disc-shaped support, and an inwardly extending circumferential projection integral with said peripheral edge of said annular portion of said annular brush member and adapted to be inserted into said groove of said annular rim of said disc for frictional engagement therein, at least one of said members consisting of an elastical- 1y deformable synthetic resin material for facilitating insertion of said projection into said groove; and a pad of elastically deformable liquid-absorbing porous material having a first portion located within said compartment and projecting through said central opening of said annular portion of said annular brush member outwardly and having a second portion located outwardly of said opening and within the space surrounded by said bristles of said annular brush member with the outer face of said pad being located substantially in the plane of the outer ends of said bristles, said first portion and said second portion of said pad having each a cross-sectional area greater than the cross-sectional area of said opening so as to be detachably held therein, said annular brush member together with said pad being thus adapted to be attached to and detached from said disc-shaped support member as a single unit.

References tilted by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 111,955 2/71 Marshall 15114 1,950,318 3/34 McNab 151 10 X 2,772,430 12/56 Moritt 15111 X 2,803,031 8/57 Cervelli 1S244.4 X 2,935,754 5/60 Abdo et al. 15l15 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,266,610 6/61 France.

940,891 3/56 Germany.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, CHARLES A. WILLMUTH,

Examiners. 

1. A CLEANING IMPLEMENT COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, A DISC-SHAPED SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING AN ANNULAR RIM; A HANDLE SECURED TO SAID DISC-SHAPED SUPPORT MEMBER; AN ANNULAR BRUSH MEMBER HAVING A CENTRAL OPENING AND INCLUDING AN ANNULAR PORTION HAVING A PERIPHERAL EDGE OF SUBTANTIALLY THE SAME CONFIGURATION AS SAID ANNULAR RIM OF SAID DISC-SHAPED SUPPORT MEMBER AND A PLURALITY OF BRISTLES CARRIED BY THE OUTER FACE OF SAID ANNULAR PORTION INTEGRAL THEREWITH AND EXTENDING THEREAROUND; MEANS FOR DETACHABLY SECURING SAID ANNULAR BRUSH MEMBER ALONG SAID PERIPHERAL EDGE OF SAID ANNULAR PORTION TO SAID ANNULAR RIM OF SAID DISC-SHAPED SUPPORT MEMBER SO THAT SAID DISCSHAPED SUPPORT MEMBER TOGETHER WITH SAID ANNULAR BRUSH MEMBER FORM A COMPARTMENT; AND A PAD OF ELASTICALLY DEFORMABLE LIQUID-ABSORBING POROUS MATERIAL HAVING A FIRST PORTION LOCATED WITHIN SAID COMPARTMENT AND PROJECTING THROUGH SAID CENTRAL OPENING OF SAID ANNULAR PORTION OF SAID ANNULASR BRUSH MEMBER OUTWARDLY AND HAVING A SECOND PORTION LOCATED OUTWARDLY OF SAID OPENING AND WITHIN THE SPACE SURROUNDED BY SAID BRISTLES OF SAID ANNULAR BRUSH MEMBER, SAID FIRST PORTION AND SAID SECOND PORTION OF SAID PAD HAVING EACH A CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA GREATER THAN THE CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF SAID OPENING SO AS TO BE DETACHABLY HELD THEREIN, SAID ANNULAR BRUSH MEMBER TOGETHER WITH SAID PAD BEING THUS ADPATED TO BE ATTACHED TO AND DETACHED FROM SAID DISC-SHAPED SUPPORT MEMBER AS A SINGLE UNIT. 